Nige & MBR, thanks for the info! My German needs work (& the English-German dictionary from highschool doesn't cover military terms...) but I now know a lot more about tactical markings & paint!

Tom

I can try to translate military terms. 15 month as a REMF do have their benefits

Stencelit also has a set of german masks (Bundeswehr) in 1:35. If there is interest I can try and post a photo. They should cover all Marder variants from the style.

Jupeterblitz (Marco) was just showing me a stencil in 1/35 on my G waggon blog which looks fab,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, is a shame they don't do 1/24 too as these look very useful.

It would be nice if it could be enlarged and photo etched.

Is wierd seeing what weapons the former Eastern Block left over for NATO after the wall came down. Brings back memories of the Army convoy run we did to Berlin in 1991. Would have loved to have seen the real launcher you are building Jesper.

Instead we only caught sight of the occasional ancient looking Army truck on the drive through Berlin. That and loads of Trabonts.

Nige

I have a few pictures I am basing my model on. Not many pictures can be found, but I have found mention of the use of SA-6 systems as late as 1995 in the Bundeswehr for the Elite exercise. I think all are outfaced by now, but I do not know for certain.

However, it would make perfect sense to me to try and train against the "real" systems of potential enemies. The SA-6 is still widespread in the world, so gaining experience training against them would be excellent for NATO forces.

Below are two pictures of the SA-6 in Bundeswehr service. The two pictures in the field are for the Elite exercise in 1995.

Here's a shot of my Tamiya Leo 1A4, ready for paint. It is an ancient kit, so I concentrated on the most obvious detail omissions like the tow cables, antennas, and grouser racks. Fortunately I don't have any hull dimensions to check against, so live in blissfull ignorance of Tamiya's comprimises with the motorising kit! Still, it looks the part, and is easier to find than the better Italeri kit...



(Hope the image link works...)

Tom

Progress shot of my Tamiya Leopard 1A4, take two. (Previous attempted post seems to have disappeared! Apologies if you received it minus photo...)

I concentrated on the obvious missing details such as tow cables & brackets, antennas, grouser storage racks, etc. I don't have real dimensions as reference, so thankfully cannot compare Tamiya's motorised hull compromises. It looks good enough to my Mk.I eyeball...

Hope this time the image works!

Tom

Nice looking Leo, Tom. I build this old kit recently and it is actually a nice kit considering the age. You doid some nice improvements on it.

Looking forward to see more when the paint hits the plastic.

Thanks! The components are drying off from a degrease wash, and should be primed this weekend if all goes well. (Gives me a few days to experiment with paint mixes...)

Tom

Hi All.

Here are my two. Both ancient Tamiya kits of the Leopard 1 and Marder.







Both are built OOB and with weathering by Mig Pigments. Still learning about them. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Warren,

Nice work! I always liked the cast turret on the early Leopards...

Tom

Thanks for that Tom.

Always good to get some encouragement..

Looks good, Warren. Have you used two different greens for the Leo and the Marder? Maybe it is just the weathering the looks different.

Good job on them - Thanks for participating.

Hi Jesper.

I used the Tamita Olive Drab on the Marder, but it looks way too blue to me.. But there are so many variations on this one colour I figured it was well within tolerances.. I used Gunze H58 on the Leopard and it seemed a bit closer.. and I forgot the two whip antennas on the Leopard. I left the tools off on purpose as I have seen numerous tanks over the years with no tools attached. A change is as good as a holiday!

A little update on my SA-6. The construction is now finished and a base coat has been applied. I used the pictures previously posted in this tread to judge the colour. I also added the first filter. Next the details will be painted and weathering can begin. I will keep weathering light.

More to follow....

As for the "Gelb-Olive" color of pre Nato 3-color german tanks: Some modelers suggest that Tamiya XF-51 Matt Khaki Drab might be a good choice for a bleached out tank. And the color bleached out to a dusty-grayish green quite fast and example

I have now finished my SA-6 in Bundeswehr colours. I choose to use the pictures of SA-6 no. 322 that I have posted earlier in this tread as inspiration. However, as all the details are not exactly the same in the Truimpeter kit I choose to build SA-6 no. 321 instead.

I choose to give it a light weathering with some MiG pigments and various washes.

It was a very enjoyable build although care needs to be taken when the missiles are being constructed and when mounting the missiles to the launcher frame. Overall an excellent kit - especially considering the very low price tag.

Comments welcome

Hi, all,

Finally got base paint and decals on my Tamiya Leo 1A4 (pictures soon, I hope!), and it got me thinking. When the Bundeswehr took delivery of its M47s and M41s in the mid-50s did they stay in US olive drab for a while, or did they get painted Gelboliv straight away? My M47 won't make the end of this campaign, but I still wonder which colour represents a 1958 example.

Tom

A couple of pictures of my Revell's Fennek before painting. It's already finished, I just need to make pictures
[img=http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9673/pictures011b.th.jpg] [img=http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8041/pictures013h.th.jpg]
You can also see barbed wire in the background

Right, I finally managed to get my Leo assembled and photographed! The weathering is rather light (mainly "dust" in the form of washing, drybrush, and very thinned overspray) but it seems to wash out in the sunlight. (Oh, well, it looks more varied in person!)





The M47 is still some way off, and will now get rather more interior than originally planned, so it won't be ready in time.

Still, it's been a fun campaign!

Tom

Just wondering, are we still for August 01, 2009. or there will be an extension?; still working on the painting on the Fuchs, maybe if I just forget those nasty habits of sleeping at nigth and eating regularly during the day or going to work, just maybe!!. too many campaigns, too little time.

Byron

Just give up the going to work bit mate. Give you 8 hours a day for modelling!

Yeah!! that sound like a good idea Warren, I will send my wife back to her parents, my kids I will distribute them among my three sisters (one to each) and I will be back to my parents house, I know for sure that my old room is still there; why didn't think of this before. silly me.

I know that something good will come out of this forum, now lets hope everybody else cooperates.

Byron

I'm away from the bench for a few days too... I'll try to finish the little Wiesel

Posted two pics of the PzH-2000 to the Gallery. Not the greatest pictures so I will try to take some more but at least THIS time I finish before the campaign ends.